Manhattan project national park plan raises questions

The decision to build and then use the atomic bomb remains one of the most controversial during the 20th century. Hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the two events were instrumental in ending the second world war, and they catapulted science and scientists to the forefront of policy in the US.

This month, the US government is considering commemorating this turning point in history by creating a national park out of the three labs where the Manhattan project took place. This would allow more visitors to see the buildings where the research, construction and testing of the atomic bomb took place.

Does this mean that the US government is celebrating the decision to build nuclear weapons?Not at all, says Ellen McGehee, an archaeologist and historian at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. "Having a park isn't celebrating the history of the Manhattan project, it's commemorating it. That means that a lot of different stories can be told. A history that still produces such strong emotions today tells me it's a very significant history."

How the National Park Service and the labs interpret the sites for the public will be crucial, says Kelly. "We want to think about why it's still relevant, what can we learn from the last 70 years about how science has shaped history and society, and how the role of science has changed." She says it is a story about spies, a great human collaboration of 130,000 people working in secrecy, harnessing the atom for the first time, and left with the dilemma of not being able to put the genie back in the bottle. "These issues are as relative today as then."

OK, but aren't these sites dangerous?Concerns have been raised about nuclear waste. The Manhattan project was purposely decentralised to prevent all but a select few from knowing exactly what was going on. Each of the three sites played a distinct role.

Most of the construction activity took place at Los Alamos, New Mexico, which is still a national research lab. The other two sites are Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which depleted uranium for the bomb and is an active research laboratory, and Hanford, Washington, which processed plutonium for the bomb but is now an abandoned town near Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Each of the three sites still has some nuclear waste on its property. But the Department of Energy has determined that tours could easily avoid those areas, and lingering radiation is far too low to harm visitors.

Why act now?At Los Alamos, numerous buildings remain from the Manhattan project and from the subsequent cold war, which ramped up nuclear research and production. Many of these buildings are dilapidated and in danger of being condemned if they are not restored.

Among these buildings are log cabins of a boarding school that were seized by the government in 1942 to use for the project, and military-style bunkers that were constructed to house the gadget: the scientists' nickname for the first bomb that was tested at the Trinity site in New Mexico. Manhattan project director J. Robert Oppenheimer's house could also be designated as an attraction.

"These buildings give you goosebumps," says Cynthia Kelly, president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation, which has pushed for the preservation of the sites. "To think, in this little building, I'm standing where amazing scientists once stood, trying to figure out whether this 'gadget' would work. It's a touchstone that says we are standing on the shoulders of giants."

At Oak Ridge, the mile-long building where uranium was enriched is among several buildings designated for restoration and preservation.

Is there anything at the sites except old buildings?After the top-secret Manhattan project ended, the buildings were stripped of their contents and have since stood empty. But many artefacts still remain, preserved by neighbours who bought them at auctions and historical societies.

The buildings themselves hold interesting titbits of history. Some of the buildings used during the cold war still have phone numbers and equations scribbled on the walls, says McGehee.

Is that enough to encourage anyone to actually visit these sites?Perhaps it is. When Hanford opened its B reactor for tours, they didn't expect anyone to visit the remote site. But now tours frequently sell out online, says Kelly. The other two labs are in more convenient locations for tourists. Los Alamos is surrounded by natural attractions such as Bandelier National Monument, and is only an hour's drive from Santa Fe, which draws a million tourists per year. Oak Ridge is also close to a major highway and holds the annual Secret City Festival to commemorate its history.

What about national security?Both Los Alamos and Oak Ridge national labs are still functioning government research labs and have stringent security regulations. Currently, the historical sites at Los Alamos are behind its fence. One – the Gun Site – where the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima was developed, sits right at that border. It is likely that if the area becomes a park, the fence would simply be moved to allow visitors to access the site.

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